Austria wary of Greek debt default

A Greek debt default cannot be ruled out, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann has warned, as Athens eyes a massive new EU-IMF bailout against a background of labour unrest.

"I can't rule it out," Faymann told the political talk show Pressestunde on Austrian television ORF on Sunday, questioned about the possibility of a default.

"I have no political role in Greece, so I don't know if the Greek population will demonstrate understanding" for further austerity reforms, which the government is struggling to pass and which have already been met by major strikes and protests.

"I hope, for Greece and for the European Union, that we won't need any Plan B," he went on.

Greece and Europe should concentrate instead on already-drafted efforts to stem the crisis and not be considering other pessimistic scenarios.

"The best would be for the prime minister to fulfill these conditions, to get a majority in parliament (for the reforms) and for Greece to have a shot at a return to stability."

"Anything else would be bad for us, for the Greek population as well," he said.

Greece faces a momentous battle in parliament this week as the government struggles to quash dissent to additional austerity reforms needed to secure a vital new EU-IMF bailout that could reach 100 billion euros ($A136.1 billion).

Meanwhile, the country's influential unions have called a 48-hour walkout from Tuesday on top of rolling power cuts by disgruntled electricity workers that have hit households around the country for the past week.